1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system, and in particular, to a computer implemented method and apparatus for processing software applications that have a virtual world interface. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for a rating system to assign a score to virtual world merchandise according to how often the merchandise is accessed by avatars visiting the land where the virtual world merchandise is located.
2. Description of the Related Art
A software application is a system implemented in software for accomplishing a given purpose. A Web application is a software application having a client-side component and a server-side component linked together through a Web server. The client-side component is in the form of Web pages, whereas the server-side component can be built using a variety of technologies such as JSP (JavaServer Page), Java Servlet, and PHP. The Web pages define the user interface (UI) through declarative languages, such as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and Extensible Markup Language (XML), and logic using scripting languages such as JavaScript. The Web browser on the client device processes and displays the Web pages. The client Web pages use Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to communicate with a Web server that links client requests to proper server components that perform processing which typically includes database access and enterprise business logic, such as e-commerce. The server components respond through the Web server, which uses HTTP to send the response back to the client.
A virtual world is a software application that provides a computer-based simulated environment in which virtual characters, called avatars, can reside, visit different places, and interact with one another. A virtual world environment is typically represented in a 3D representation that mimics the real-world environment. Avatars are representations of people residing in the virtual worlds.
Existing virtual world software systems focus on using the virtual world environment to model real-world systems. However, the virtual world presentation in these existing virtual world software systems is statically built and is not adaptive to state changes in the virtual world environment. This static nature of the existing virtual world presentation is in contrast to the Web applications, e-commerce applications in particular, in which content and information displayed to the user can be highly adaptive to the preferences of the user.
Thus, it would be beneficial to enable virtual world systems to allow their applications to be context aware, thereby providing richer user experiences and a higher chance of transaction of e-commerce applications. In addition, it would also be advantageous to have a rating system for determining which virtual world artifacts are favored by general avatars that visit the land where these virtual world artifacts reside.